Tips from the experts
Landscape & Gardening
Living with Deer in the Buffalo Landscape
Deer Resistant Ratings of plants
What is making holes in my yard?
Ponds -
Seasonal Pond Care Summary for Western New York
Simplest Spring Pond Preparation
How to determine Male or female Koi?
Lava Rock for filter media? What is best
Dividing, replanting aquatic plants
Building a pondless waterfalls
Seaming pond liner with 6" Cover Tape
Seaming pond liner with 3" splicing tape
Why Pond Shading or Dye is important
Pond Calculations
Quantity of boulders for a pond
Length x Width / 40 = Tons of boulders
1:2:1 RATIO:
For every 1 ton of 6”-12” boulders get 2 tons of 12” –
18” boulders and 1 ton of 18” – 24” boulders
Quantity of boulders for a stream
1 ½ tons for every 10’ of stream using a 1:2:1 ratio
Quantity of boulders for facing a waterfall
14” – ½ ton of mixed boulders
22” – ¾ ton of mixed boulders
30” – 1 ton of mixed boulders
40” – 1½ tons of mixed boulders
Quantity of boulders for a retaining wall
1 ton of 12” – 18” boulders will cover 10 linear feet
1 ton of 18” – 24” boulders will cover 5 liners feet
Calculating Approximate Water Volume
Avg. Length x Avg. Width x Avg. Depth x 7.48 = ___
Calculating Approximate Water in Motion
Length x Width x (0.25x depth of water) x 7.48 =___
Calculating Gallons Required in a Basin
Total Gallons in Motion x 2.5 = Desired Basin volume
Basin Matrix Capacity
Large Matrix – 4.3 cuft. Holds 32 gallons
Small Matrix – 2.3 cuft. Holds 17 gallons
Example of pondless waterfall basin sizing:
Use the formula :
Length of waterfall x width of waterfall x (0.25 x Depth of water) = how many cubic feet of water you need running down your waterfall, also called water in motion.
Of course, we don't normally measure water in cubic feet. There are 7.48 gallons per cubic ft of water. Muliply how many cubic feet of water from the formula above x 7.48, and you will have how many gallons of water you need.
To find out how much water you need for the entire system, multiply the amount of water in motion you need x 2.5. This will give you enough water to keep the pump submerged at all times, and not have an overflow when the pump is turned off.
Here is an example:
Length = 10ft Width = 3ft Depth=.5 inch
Calculate Water in Motion: L x W x (0.25 x D) x 7.48
10 x 3 (0.25 x 0.5) x 7.48 = 28.05 gallons
Calculate Total Amount of Water: Water in motion x 2.5
28.05 gallons x 2.5 = 70 gallons
This means that you need a reservoir that can hold 70 gallons of water! For pondless waterfalls, water matrix are a great way to store larger volumes of water in a smaller footprint, which gives you more flexibility on design.